Friday, June 16, 2006

Yesterday I got to do some of the fun part about moving to a new house: shopping! There are (I think) 38 windows in the place, and most of them have old mini-blinds caked with dirt and have missing or broken slats. It would be great to be able to replace them all with new window coverings, but alas, we don't have unlimited funds. I checked.

As rooms are painted, the mini-blinds are being removed and thrown away.

So for now, it's just a matter of covering the essential windows for the sake of modesty. Either that, or sell tickets to the neighbors. Tomcat's bathroom windows are covered with shades. My bathroom window is tiny and so far up that it won't matter, except to maybe some voyeuristic pigeon.

That leaves the bedroom and morning kitchen windows which must be covered before we can move in. (Yes, I said "morning kitchen." I love saying "morning kitchen." Because I have one. A morning kitchen.) The morning kitchen is connected to the upstairs bedroom, and its windows need to be covered because, well, what if, in the middle of the night, you wanted to get a drink of water? Without putting on a robe first? Or what if, you got up before dawn (as if) and wanted to start the coffee maker? Not that Episcopalians would make coffee while stark naked, but I'm just sayin as an example.

I went to Loew's and found some precious white cotton cafe curtains with crocheted trim for the morning kitchen. We'll probably put shades on the bedroom windows - easier than trying to find drapes for odd-shaped windows, plus one with an air conditioner in it.

Then I went to an antique mall to look for a small table and two chairs for our morning coffee in our morning kitchen in the mornings. :)

I found an old oak tea cart in one lady's booth, and after scouring the rest of the mall, she and I found two oak chairs that look like they belong with it! This was my first antique mall score, so I was thrilled.

In the evening, Tomcat and I went to dinner at an Italian restaurant in our soon-to-be new neighborhood. This was a restaurant that the neighborhood newspaper advised boycotting some months ago, so we never went to it before. The reason for the boycott? The restaurant is part of a chain instead of locally owned and operated. We don't want chain anythings in the 'hood. Let everyone else have their GAP stores and so forth, but we don't want to look like everyone else - not us! Well, mindful of this, the restaurant started spending its marketing budget on local events and charities, so it's okay to eat there now. Since we were un-boycotting them, we got a free dessert, plus a sampling of some of their other dishes.

Then, when we got home last night, Tomcat's early birthday gift from his folks had arrived. It's a digital camera! It was originally for our trip to London on Tomcat's 50th birthday at the end of July, but since we're moving into a new house now, the folks sent the camera early so we can start sending them pics of everything.

As soon as Tomcat and I figure out how to use the camera - surely this weekend, I'll post some pics of all this stuff I've been blathering about. Well, except for the naked parts.

About Me

OBAMA FACTCHECK

I'm asking you to believe not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington ... I'm asking you to believe in yours. -Barack Obama

I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.~ Sir Stephen H. Robertshistorian, 1901-1971

"If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time."